Johann Otto Prechtler (21 January 1813 – 6 August 1881) was an Austrian civil servant, and a poet, dramatist and librettist.

Life

Prechtler was born in

Grieskirchen Grieskirchen is a town in Austria. It is capital of the Grieskirchen district of Upper Austria, in the Trattnachtal valley. Notable people * Karin Bonelli (born 1988), flutist with the Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is a his ...

Upper Austria Upper Austria ( ; ; ) is one of the nine States of Austria, states of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg (state), Salzbur ...

in modest circumstances; his mother Marie was a poet, and had some stage plays performed at a festival in Salzburg. Otto Prechtler studied in

Linz Linz (Pronunciation: , ; ) is the capital of Upper Austria and List of cities and towns in Austria, third-largest city in Austria. Located on the river Danube, the city is in the far north of Austria, south of the border with the Czech Repub ...

and

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, and in 1834 he became a civil servant at the General Court Chamber (''Allgemeine Hofkammer'') in Vienna. In 1856 he succeeded

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He ...

as director of the ''Hofkammer'' archives, remaining in the post until 1866.

Literary works

From 1833 he published poetry in the ''Linzer Bürgerblatt'', and novellas and travel writings in almanacs and magazines. From 1842 to 1867 he had several plays performed in Vienna at the

Burgtheater The Burgtheater (; literally: "Castle Theater" but alternatively translated as "(Imperial) Court Theater", originally known as '' K.K. Theater an der Burg'', then until 1918 as the ''K.K. Hofburgtheater'', is the national theater of Austria in ...

; particularly successful were ''Die Kronenwächte'' (1844) and ''Falconiere'' (1846). Many of his works are said to show the influence of Grillparzer. He wrote more than thirty

libretti A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major l ...

, including the libretto for Josef Netzer's opera ''Mara'', and for operas by

Franz Lachner Franz Paul Lachner (2 April 180320 January 1890) was a German composer and conductor. Biography Lachner was born in Rain am Lech to a musical family (his brothers Ignaz, and Vinzenz also became musicians). He studied music with Simon Sec ...

, Johann Hoven, Heinrich Proch and others; he wrote the libretto for ''

Diana von Solange ''Diana von Solange'' is an opera by the German prince Ernst II of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, an amateur composer. It was premiered in 1858. In 1859, Franz Liszt wrote an orchestral ''Festmarsch nach Motiven von E. H. z. S-C-G'', S.116, based on themes ...

'' by

Ernest II, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha Ernest II (; 21 June 181822 August 1893) was Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha from 29 January 1844 to his death in 1893. He was born in Coburg to Ernest III, Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld, and Princess Louise of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg. His father be ...

. In 1849 he was editor of the newspaper ', for which he also contributed material.

Retirement

In 1864 Prechtler was awarded an honorary citizenship of his birthplace Grieskirchen. He retired in 1866, and lived in various places in Upper Austria; he died in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

in 1881.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Prechtler, Otto 1813 births 1881 deaths Librettists from Austria-Hungary Opera librettists Dramatists and playwrights from the Austrian Empire Civil servants from the Austrian Empire